We present here a new image and movie of the Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (52768) 1998 OR2, coming as close as 6.3 millions of km next 29 April. Quite a large distance, telling us it will NOT hit our planet.

The image above comes from a single 300-seconds exposure, remotely taken with “Elena” (PlaneWave 17″+Paramount ME+SBIG STL-6303E) robotic unit available at Virtual Telescope. The asteroid is in the center of the image, marked by an arrow. The telescope tracked the apparent motion of 1998 OR2.

Below, you can see the Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (52768) 1998 OR in action, enjoying its motion in about 30 minutes.

When we imaged it, asteroid 1998 OR2 was at about 28 millions of km from us. This 1.8 – 4.1 km large asteroid will come as close as 6.3 millions of km from us next 29 Apr., – more than 16 times the average lunar distance – becoming bright enough to be seen with modest optical equipments. We will show it live, online.

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